October 15, 2014

Desperate to attract, and keep, tech-savvy female employees, two of the biggest guns in Silicon Valley, Apple and Facebook, have announced that they will now pick up the tab for employees to freeze their eggs for later fertilization rather than leave them having to choose between pursuing their career or leaving to start a family while they are young and highly fertile. Competition for highly qualified women is intense in the overwhelmingly male technology hotbed, and by paying for the procedure to the tune of $20,000 for egg freezing and storage, two of the biggest Valley players are offering a perk that may be beyond the price range of smaller tech operations and startups. Facebook's free-freezing program has already begun, and Apple's will be initiated in January.

Amber Vinson, a second Dallas health care worker who cared for deceased Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan has tested positive for the virus. She is “ill but clinically stable,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden and will be transferred to Emory University Hospital. Before she became symptomatic, she flew on commercial airliner Frontier, flights 1142 and 1143, between Cleveland and Dallas/Ft. Worth on 10/10 and 10/13. The airline is asking customers who traveled on those flights to contact the CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO. At the time of her travel, health care workers were self-monitoring their activities. Moving forward, the CDC will ensure that no one else in such a situation travels outside of a closed environment, said Frieden who adds that Ebola is infectious only when someone is symptomatic.